The issue of whether to allow comments on blogs is an interesting one and it seems that there are many explanations as to why people believe that their should either be comments or not on blogs. It seems that because of the nature of oppositional politics that many bloggers are simply not interested in having every post they write disputed, but what are the other reasons bloggers do not allow comments?
I found this excerpt from Seth Godin’s blog when he discussed this same issue,
“I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.”
I understand Seth's argument because no one wants to deal with overly critical, faceless opposition, but I also see blogging and comments as a way for people to participate in a conversation. Jeff Atwood wrote about this on his blog as well with a very different opinion, “I firmly maintain that a blog without comments enabled is not a blog. It's more like a church pulpit.” Atwood’s Blog post on Coding Horror attracted many comments and some of his readers suggested that if a reader wished to contact the author an email would be similar to a letter to the editor in the publishing world, and one said that a blog without comments is a website. Individual bloggers must decide if not allowing comments silences their audience and what that will do to their readership.
Overview
The issue of whether to allow comments on blogs is an interesting one and it seems that there are many explanations as to why people believe that their should either be comments or not on blogs. It seems that because of the nature of oppositional politics that many bloggers are simply not interested in having every post they write disputed, but what are the other reasons bloggers do not allow comments?
I found this excerpt from Seth Godin’s blog when he discussed this same issue,
“I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.”
I understand Seth's argument because no one wants to deal with overly critical, faceless opposition, but I also see blogging and comments as a way for people to participate in a conversation. Jeff Atwood wrote about this on his blog as well with a very different opinion, “I firmly maintain that a blog without comments enabled is not a blog. It's more like a church pulpit.” Atwood’s Blog post on Coding Horror attracted many comments and some of his readers suggested that if a reader wished to contact the author an email would be similar to a letter to the editor in the publishing world, and one said that a blog without comments is a website. Individual bloggers must decide if not allowing comments silences their audience and what that will do to their readership.
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